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How To Create Mobile-Friendly Sites That Rank Higher

Google has long dominate the web by providing the best user experience so I’m NOT surprised at the recent announcement that they will be making more tweaks to their search engine. They’ve made it very clear mobile-friendly websites will be ranking higher within the SERP’s because of the increasing number of people skimming the net using their mobile devices. Making the change to mobile-friendly websites is NOT difficult because the concept of responsive-web design has been around for several years. There’s cool WordPress plug-ins that’ll quickly transform your blog into a mobile-friendly interface. What exactly is responsive web-design? Let’s take a quick look at the definition…

â€œResponsive web design (RWD) is an approach to web design aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experienceâ€”easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrollingâ€”across a wide range of devices (from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones)â€. (Source: Wikipedia.com)

We all should have been preparing for this announcement months back because with a majority of online users now spending more time on smart-phones and tablets. The search results should be equipped to handle the increase with an emphasis on quality. Your business should adopt this philosophy immediately so you can start taking advantage of the tweak in the Google algorithm however it’s important NOT to compromise the quality of your content. Next,

Mobile-Friendly = ROI

Higher rankings because of a responsive web-design will definitely benefit bloggers who rely on a high conversion rate to achieve a huge ROI. Think about how many people check emails or even search for information on their mobile phones. Personally, I’ll use my mobile phone all the time to find information unless it’s during my work hours where I’ll skim on my desktop. I can’t count the number of times I’ve searched for information using my mobile phone and was frustrated with interface. For example,

If your a business looking to convert visitors into customers and have NOT incorporated a responsive webâ€“design then this will lower your conversion rate. How? It’s going to be difficult for people to find the clear call-to-action and important bullet-points outlining some of the cool features of your product. You should always look at the bigger picture and how a responsive web-deign can help achieve your end goal.

Think about how many times you send out a newsletter to your email subscribers and how many of them will open it on their mobile-phones. ESP’s understand the importance which is why they’ve implemented templates that are mobile-friendly. However, if your going to have a direct link within your email to your website than it’s important your site uses a mobile friendly interface.

Here are some statistics…

80% of internet users own smart-phones

47% of them own a tablet

Users spend 60% of their time skimming online using smart-phones

What Can You Do?

The answer is start looking into ways to implement a responsive web-design into your blog. The great news for WordPress users is there are some plug-ins you can utilize to convert your blog into a mobile friendly interface. Here’s an example…

WPTouch is a plug-in that automatically enables a simple mobile design for your website. There are many elements that can be customized from the backend, but the initial installation will allow your website to be viewed friendly on mobile and tablets. There are other plug-ins, but WPTouch has received several reviews and is great to get the job done for the time. You can always hire sometime to create a responsive web design while you utilize the plug-in.

Google has made it clear they will start tweaking their search engine and on April 2015 we’ll start analyzing how they make the change into mobile-friendly search results.

The Original Dot Com Mogul

John Chow, a damn fine person, friend of the community, Ultimate Fighting Championship contestant, member of the Save the Whales Foundation, the man who controls the black market on baby seal pelts and member of the probably yo’ daddy foundation...